Concept shows stylish future Panamera

Paris Motor Show - The Panamera Sport Turismo concept provides two vital clues about the future of Porsche's next-generation Panamera.

The most obvious of those is its low-slung wagon body style, which shows that Porsche is thinking very seriously about taking on the Mercedes-Benz CLS Shooting Brake.

The sports car maker, which builds a lot more than just sports cars these days, also describes the concept as portraying the design language of tomorrow. Which means it more than likely shows where they're going with the next Panamera hatchback.

Were this the case, the neater design would certainly make it less controversial than today's Panamera. The concept takes this cleanness a step further by replacing the external mirrors with cameras mounted in the side air inlets, which feed rearward images to screens on either side of the driver. What's more, the concept's Liquid Metal Blue colour was created to give the car a surface that resembles 'liquid metal.'

But this car is a lot more than just a styling exercise - it also reveals the next step in Porsche's plug-in hybrid technology.

PLUG-IN PERFORMER

Mating a 70kW electric motor (fed by a lithium ion battery with external charging capability) to Porsche's 245kW supercharged 3-litre V6 petrol engine, the powertrain is capable of covering up to 30km on electric power alone.

Naturally that green feat won't apply in foot-flat mode, in which case the Sport Turismo is said to be capable of sprinting from zero to 100km/h in under six seconds.

Yet we get the impression this car was created more for cruising than sprinting. Measuring a shade under five metres in length and two metres in width, the Sport Turismo was designed to provide the interior comfort befitting a true luxury vehicle.

It's also rather simplistic inside, with the traditional instruments having been replaced by a large TFT colour display that's positioned in front of the driver.

Other controls and functions are built into the multi-touch display in the elegant ascending centre console of the Sport Turismo.